Moro Peace Deal to be Decided by Philippine Congress

Now nearing the end of his term, Benigno Aquino III, President of the Philippines, is seeking to pass a bill through congress which would declare Muslim autonomy in the Mindanao region of the Philippines.

Peace talks began in 1997 and were finally completed in January 2014, after both parties signed the peace agreement in Kuala Lumpur. This agreement would establish the Bangsamoro as an autonomous region, replacing the current Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, which was called “a failed experiment” by President Aquino. Several previous presidents, including Aquino’s mother, Corazón Aquino, have tried to create meaningful peace in the Mindanao region, to no avail.  If passed through congress, this bill would finally put an end to the instability and violence that has plagued the region for decades, creating a new autonomous region by 2016.  More than 120,000 people have died amidst the struggle for separatism since the 1970s, with many more than that having been displaced.

Upon approval from congress, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will disarm their rebel forces, handing over their weapons to a neutral third party to be mutually agreed on by both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government, in addition to this a regional police force will be established.  In exchange, the national government will reduce their military presence in the region and relinquish substantial control over all resources and wealth in Bangsamoro, allowing for a greater amount of political and economic autonomy.  However, the Philippine government would maintain national sovereignty, meaning that the Muslim autonomous region would hold no power over foreign affairs, currency, and national defense.

In 2010, President Aquino had run on the platform of putting an end to the separatist conflict in the southern island of Mindanao, stating that the government needed to transition their policy “from a disjointed, short-sighted Mindanao policy that merely reacts to events and incidents, to one that seeks a broadly supported just peace and will redress decades of neglect of the Moro and other peoples of Mindanao.”  Currently, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, in addition to being plagued by warlords, poverty, violence, and political corruption, is governed in an appointed position by the Philippine President, inciting a great deal of disdain amongst those involved in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Mindanao region has long stood separate from the rest of the Philippines, having been an entire independent Muslim sultanate for more than a century before the Spanish colonized the Philippines. The most recent chapter of the conflict between the independent Philippine government and the Moro National Liberal Front (which later became the Moro Islamic Liberation Front) began in the 1970’s, resulting in a plebiscite on the formation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, which has since been recognized as problematic and laden with fraud.

Long delays in the ratification of the peace agreement has recently reignited small pockets of hostility in the region, with bombings and kidnapping resuming, particularly by splinter groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In particular, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have vowed to continue fighting for the complete independence of the region, rejecting the peace deal entirely. Many among them question whether the terms of the peace deal will be upheld after the end of Aquino’s term.

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